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Tuesday, 7 May 2013

The Silver Maple Leaf Coin

The Silver
Maple Leaf

The silver maple leaf is the Canadian Mints most popular silver bullion
product to date; minted annually since 1988 these coins are highly collectable.
Its appearance was
brought about through the popularity of the gold maple leaf coins which
appeared several years earlier and proved to be a favorite among collectors and
investors. Each silver
bullion coin is 1 troy oz or 31.1 grams in weight, the coins silver purity is
99.99% which is the highest of any silver bullion coin on the market today. The $5 face value is the largest face
value shown on any comparable silver bullion coin in the world.There have been several notable issues released over the life of this
bullion coin series; in 1998 a 10oz version of the silver maple leaf was
released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the minting of the
first bullion coin. There have been many annual variations of the maple leaf,
these have included a silver proof releases in 1989 only, there have also been
many variations of privy marked bullion coins released to many to mention here.
Coloured maples with maple design different from the regular silver maple leaf
coins, there have been holographic coins and several differing designs, such as
a 2009 issued coins commemorating the 2010 Winter Olympics (3 different coins
in total).

A problem that
many Canadian silver maple Leaf coins have is problem called milk spot, this
happens when a cleaning detergent is still left on the coin when the coin goes
into the annealing furnace to be baked. When this happens the detergent gets
baked into the coin itself and leaves a spot that cannot be easily removed. The
marks left have a milky white appearance giving the name milk spot. This
problem has become a pain for a lot of collectors, it can be a very hit or miss
problem as this does not affect all maple leaf coins.

The Observe
Design of the Maple Leaf

The observe of the
silver maple leaf features the profile of Queen Elizabeth II, there have been a
total of three differing profiles of Queen Elizabeth to date, a young head
version, an old head version, and an older head version. Each maple coin is struck with a
face value of $5 and also shows the inscriptions of ELIZABETH II, 5 DOLLARS and
the year of minting on the obverse.

The Reverse Design
of the Maple Leaf

The reverse of
these silver bullion coins have always features the iconic maple leaf
designwhich is the national symbol of Canada, and the phrase "Fine Silver
1 oz Argent Pur" along the bottom of each coin.